One of the best investments you can make when looking to get a handle on your finances is a subscription to MoneySense magazine. For just $25 per year you’ll get eight issues loaded with useful tips and practical advice from some of Canada’s leading financial experts and authors.
The MoneySense team is hosting a Retire Rich event on the evening of Wednesday April 8th in Oakville, Ontario that promises to “change your financial future”. The four-hour event features talented speakers Bruce Sellery, Preet Banerjee, Duncan Hood, and Dan Bortolotti.
You’ll learn the proven tactics and strategies that can help any Canadian establish a low-cost retirement plan for a rich and rewarding retirement.
We have six tickets to give away to any Boomer & Echo readers who live in the Oakville area and might be interested in attending the Retire Rich event. We’ll give them away in pairs – so the first three readers to leave a comment below can stake their claim to the tickets.
This week’s recap:
On Monday I wrote about RESPs and how parents can give their kids a financial leg up.
On Wednesday Marie weighed-in on the extreme early retirement craze.
And on Friday I shared how our new fee-only financial planning business is going.
Weekend reading:
Norm Rothery wrote an interesting rebuttal to a piece in the New York Times that suggested zero mutual funds beat the market over the long term. Rothery turns the tables on index investors, saying:
“For instance, how many Canadian equity index funds consistently outperformed, say, the Mawer New Canada fund over the last 20 years? Probably none, but let me know if you find one.”
Mark Seed from My Own Advisor asked a polarizing question: Why buy individual stocks at all?
Michael James on Money uses an interesting analogy to debunk the idea that active investors can beat the market by simply trying a bit harder and improving their skills.
Balanced funds are a simple and effective way for investors to diversify their portfolio, but many of these funds are expensive to own. Rob Carrick says investors whose advisors use balanced funds should make sure they’re getting more and better advice in exchange for those fees.
Financial Uproar suggested a few easy alternatives for investors looking to build their own low cost balanced fund solution.
Fed up with fees? Here’s an intriguing option for investors to consider – a robot.
Ben Carlson shares some sensible thoughts on balancing your career aspirations with your financial goals and family life.
Frugal Trader at Million Dollar Journey explains how his family of four lives on one government salary.
Sketch Guy Carl Richards has a new book coming out next week – The One-Page Financial Plan – and this excerpt from the book explains why you should add some uncertainty to your financial planning process.
My favourite TV series is set to launch its fifth season on HBO April 12th. Here are five financial lessons from Game of Thrones.
An interesting interview with economist Robert Shiller, who’s famous for correctly predicting the 2000 stock market bubble and the 2005 housing bubble.
Preet Banerjee continues his excellent video series – Drawing Conclusions – with this take on how much it really costs to move:
Cinderella got a refresh and hit the big screen again this month. Garry Marr says the chances of a real fairy tale ending are remote – there’s no prince waiting to save us – which is why financial planning is so important.
Speaking of fairy tales, this Priceonomics blog looks at our obsession with diamonds and engagement rings.
Diamonds are not actually scarce, make a terrible investment, and are purely valuable as a status symbol. Diamonds, to put it delicately, are bullshit.
Jonathan Chevreau’s latest MoneySense blog explores the family tax cut and whether it encourages one spouse to work less.
Dan Wesley is skeptical of a new way that Canadians can pay their taxes by credit card through a company called Plastiq.
Finally, this American article says title loans are growing at a fast rate and have the potential to be even more damaging than payday loans.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
